Knife holder for counterknife bank assembly for combine harvester

Abstract

A knife holder for a knife bank of an agricultural vehicle. The knife holder includes a body having opposing legs separated by a channel, wherein the channel is sized for receiving a shaft to which the knife holder is mounted; a mount for mounting the body to a knife element; and an opening for receiving a fastener for mounting the body to the shaft such that fastening the body to the shaft causes the legs to deform and compressively contact the shaft and thereby either prevent or limit inadvertent movement of the body relative to the shaft in a direction that is normal to a longitudinal axis of the shaft.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A knife holder for a knife bank of an agricultural vehicle, said knife holder comprising:
 a deformable body having opposing legs separated by a passageway, wherein the passageway is shaped and sized for receiving a shaft to which the knife holder is mounted;   means disposed on the body for mounting the body to a knife element; and   an opening for receiving a fastener for mounting the body to the shaft such that fastening the body to the shaft causes the legs to deflect and compressively contact the shaft and thereby either prevent or limit inadvertent movement of the body relative to the shaft in a direction that is normal to a longitudinal axis of the shaft.   
     
     
         2 . The knife holder of  claim 1 , wherein the passageway extends to an open side of the body. 
     
     
         3 . The knife holder of  claim 2 , wherein the passageway extends to a second opening formed in the body through which a fastener is received for mounting together components of the knife bank. 
     
     
         4 . The knife holder of  claim 3 , wherein the passageway includes a narrowed channel extending between the open side of the body and the second opening. 
     
     
         5 . The knife holder of  claim 3 , wherein the second opening constitutes a hinge point about which the body is configured to deform upon mounting the body to the shaft. 
     
     
         6 . The knife holder of  claim 1 , wherein the means for mounting the body to a knife element comprises a projection that is positionable within an opening formed in the knife element. 
     
     
         7 . The knife holder of  claim 1 , wherein the body is configured to be elastically deformed. 
     
     
         8 . The knife holder of  claim 1 , wherein the body is unitary and monolithic. 
     
     
         9 . A knife bank comprising the knife holder of  claim 1 , the knife bank comprising the knife element mounted to one side of the body by said means for mounting the body to the knife element, as well as another knife element mounted to an opposing side of the body. 
     
     
         10 . The knife bank of  claim 9 , wherein each knife element has multiple sides and sharpened edges on each side. 
     
     
         11 . A counterknife assembly comprising the knife bank of  claim 9  and said shaft. 
     
     
         12 . The counterknife assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the shaft has a non-circular cross-section and the passageway of the knife holder is sized to non-rotatably receive the non-circular shaft such that the shaft is prevented from rotating relative to the knife holder. 
     
     
         13 . The counterknife assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the shaft is hexagonal. 
     
     
         14 . The counterknife assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the knife bank includes another knife holder that is mounted to said another knife element, wherein each knife holder includes a radiused top surface defined by an axis that is substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the shaft. 
     
     
         15 . A chopper assembly comprising the counterknife assembly of  claim 11  and a rotary chopper element positioned adjacent the counterknife assembly. 
     
     
         16 . A combine harvester comprising the chopper assembly of  claim 15 , wherein the combine harvester comprises a threshing section and the chopper assembly is positioned downstream of the threshing section.